The ability to order fast food online from within specific restaurant apps has undeniably changed the food ordering experience for the better. Whereas enjoying fast food used to require walking into a physical storefront and placing an order after patiently waiting in line for a few minutes, consumers today can simply place an order within an app and casually stroll in and pick up their food when it’s ready.
As simple as that sounds, Chipotle is looking to make the food ordering and pick-up process even easier. As part of a new initiative announced today, the fast-casual restaurant chain announced a new store layout designed to better reflect our reliance on apps and immediate gratification.
One of the more interesting design features Chipotle is testing is a walk-up window that will enable customers who place orders online to simply walk by and pick up their order on the fly. It should also make it easier for delivery drivers from services like Grubhub to pick up orders. This has the added benefit of reducing congestion inside of the stores themselves.
This is what the walk-up window looks like at a new Chipotle location in Chicago:
“By better suiting our restaurants to accommodate the digital business, we’re able to finalize orders more effectively and provide a better overall experience for our guests,” Chipotle CTO Curt Garner said in a statement.
What’s more, Chipotle is also testing a new interior design for its stores in a handful of cities, including Chicago, Phoenix, Cincinnati, and San Diego.
The new restaurant design will emulate Chipotle’s commitment to transparency. Open views and front row seating provide direct lines of sight into the kitchen, where crew members hand prepare fresh food with real ingredients every day. The openness of this design will aim to increase communication and foster a sense of community with the restaurants. Additionally, bottled beverages will be more accessible with a customer-facing reach in cooler built into the serving line.
That’s a lot of stereotypical corporate jargon right there, but if the new design can help improve the experience at stores that tend to be wildly overcrowded, we’re not going to complain.
A photo of Chipotle’s new interior redesign can be seen below:
